Spring Break
The Daily OrangeN.Y. school sparks debate on accuracy of U.S. News's annual college rankings
By Aleksey Shats
Posted: 4/10/07, 10:28 PM EST Section: News
Sarah Lawrence is not the only school that has expressed discontent of the current U.S. News college ranking system. Completely independent from Myers' recent disapproval of the rankings, a dozen other presidents from private colleges have been putting together a statement that they are planning to send to the more than 500 colleges that participate in the rankings system, Schwartzstein said
The letter will encourage colleges to stop supplying the magazine with data, Schwartzstein said. The colleges hope others will join them in a mission to reform the ranking system.
"A few colleges explore this option each year, but most don't follow through because, like unilateral disarmament, unilateral withdrawal from the U.S. News ranking system is dangerous," said Myers, in her column. She listed Reed College as one of the few exceptions.
When Reed College stopped supplying the magazine with data in 1995, it was punished by a drastic drop in the school's ranking. This punishment resulted in a lower number of qualified applicants every year, according to the school's Web site.
While Reed College still participates in college guides that don't decide on how schools rank in relation to each other, it still refuses to send any data to U.S. News.
Just like the dozen colleges that are planning to petition for schools to conceal their data from U.S. News, administrators at Reed College believe there are many other measurements that make it fit for particular types of candidates, according to the school's Web site.
Sarah Lawrence fears that the same situation may result in a drop in its ranking, causing applicants to deem them as a less competitive school than it is, Schwartzstein said.
According to Schwartzstein, if U.S. News will use an estimate in place of the missing SAT data for next year's rankings, the school's rank will drop and potential applicants may get the wrong impression that Sarah Lawrence is less competitive than it really is.
The letter will encourage colleges to stop supplying the magazine with data, Schwartzstein said. The colleges hope others will join them in a mission to reform the ranking system.
"A few colleges explore this option each year, but most don't follow through because, like unilateral disarmament, unilateral withdrawal from the U.S. News ranking system is dangerous," said Myers, in her column. She listed Reed College as one of the few exceptions.
When Reed College stopped supplying the magazine with data in 1995, it was punished by a drastic drop in the school's ranking. This punishment resulted in a lower number of qualified applicants every year, according to the school's Web site.
While Reed College still participates in college guides that don't decide on how schools rank in relation to each other, it still refuses to send any data to U.S. News.
Just like the dozen colleges that are planning to petition for schools to conceal their data from U.S. News, administrators at Reed College believe there are many other measurements that make it fit for particular types of candidates, according to the school's Web site.
Sarah Lawrence fears that the same situation may result in a drop in its ranking, causing applicants to deem them as a less competitive school than it is, Schwartzstein said.
According to Schwartzstein, if U.S. News will use an estimate in place of the missing SAT data for next year's rankings, the school's rank will drop and potential applicants may get the wrong impression that Sarah Lawrence is less competitive than it really is.
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